FILE - In this Jan. 21, 2018, file photo, San Antonio Spurs guard Danny Green, right, stands at the bench with injured teammates Kawhi Leonard, second from left, and Rudy Gay, center, during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Indiana Pacers in San Antonio. The absolute unwillingness to answer certain questions is part of the San Antonio Spurs' mystique. The Spurs just don't share much. So there is some unmistakable irony here that when it comes to the obviously fractured relationship between San Antonio and Kawhi Leonard, it's the Spurs who are the ones frustrated by the lack of answers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File) less

FILE - In this Jan. 21, 2018, file photo, San Antonio Spurs guard Danny Green, right, stands at the bench with injured teammates Kawhi Leonard, second from left, and Rudy Gay, center, during the second half of ... more

Sam Amico, of AmicoHoops.net, aggregated a story by veteran basketball writer Peter Vecsey and tweeted that the Spurs are "determined" to trade Leonard. Vecsey later responded to the story via Twitter, saying he never used the word "determined." Besides that, Amico's aggregation reported Vecsey's source said Gregg Popovich didn't want The Klaw attending practices and that his uncle had been "poisoning" his mind.

Scott and Romana Shelburne spoke on The Jump about the current tensions within the team. Scott said there's a chance Leonard could return, but the Spurs would have to offer the $219 million contract and address comments supposedly made by teammates Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. "Those guys said some things in the locker room that wasn't cool," Scott said, with Shelburn corroborating. "I'm sure Kawhi wasn't happy about it." less

Scott and Romana Shelburne spoke on The Jump about the current tensions within the team. Scott said there's a chance Leonard could return, but the Spurs would ... more

Photo: Edward A. Ornelas, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

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With or without Kawhi, Spurs were bound for a reckoning

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In a parallel universe, the Western Conference finals start Monday in Houston, just like they do in this one. But the buildup there was different.

In a parallel universe, Kawhi Leonard's sore quadriceps healed by the middle of last October. As expected, he had his best season yet, performing like a bona fide Most Valuable Player, and you should have seen how he fit in with Rudy Gay and a rejuvenated LaMarcus Aldridge.

Boy, it was something to behold.

But in that same parallel universe, James Harden still had something to prove, and Chris Paul still unlocked exactly what Houston needed to become the top seed, and Golden State still had four All-Stars. When the Spurs and Warriors went at it in one of the greatest second-round series we ever had seen, it sure looked for a minute like Leonard was going to pull it out, didn't it?